Patricia Corbitt gets a kiss from her daughter, Ta'Kiera, as she tries on her cap and gown at her Brentwood Lake Apartment on Friday, the day before her graduation ceremony at FSCJ. Corbitt had her daughter when she was just 13, but that never stopped her from going to college.

She finished her last class in November. The diploma's at home. But Patricia Corbitt wanted to walk.

Why?

"Because looking at where I've come from, to the point I am now," she said, "I have to."

So Saturday, wearing a black cap and gown, she walked across the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena stage a graduate of Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Her family clapped and cheered when she did. They know the uphill battle Corbitt, 25, faced in order to cross that stage.

When she was 13, Corbitt had a baby.

Less than 2 percent of girls who get pregnant before they turn 18 have a college degree by the age of 30, according to a NBC News report last week.

Corbitt struggled, especially early on. During rough patches, she turned to her grandmother, who told her to have faith.

"She would come to me sometimes," Hattie Corbitt, her grandmother, said. "I would just tell her the position she was in was something she couldn't do anything about. But always think positive. You have a problem, but that problem is what you make it. You can look at the problem and stand still. You can look at the problem and go on."

And Patricia Corbitt went on.

Difficult decisions

She was a seventh-grader at Joseph Stilwell Middle School when she found out. The whispers began. Friends drifted away.

She pushed through, ignoring the talk. Doctor's appointments forced her to miss classes but other than that, Corbitt said, "I was in school every time the doors opened."

Things were good at first. But Ta'Kiera developed asthma problems. Then she became developmentally delayed, not talking until she was 3. Her asthma caused her to be pulled from school and Patricia faced a decision.

"I had to choose between taking care of her and going to school," she said. "I chose her. That's my daughter."

She was halfway through 11th grade at Andrew Jackson High School when she quit. She felt inadequate without school, though, and began adult education classes. It didn't stick. She eventually graduated from a local private school in 2007 and went straight to FSCJ.

Support system

Her grandmother, who she lives with in Jacksonville public housing, knows struggle. She raised five kids alone.

"I think that's a lot of why I was able to tell her, if you're by yourself raising children, there is a way," Hattie Corbitt, 66, said. "And they can make something out of themselves."

She has never asked Patricia a single question about her pregnancy.

"I just felt like maybe one day, if she wanted to talk about it, she would," Hattie said.

She focused, instead, on supporting her granddaughter.

Going for the goal

For five years, Patricia Corbitt, who has never had a car, took public transportation to and from FSCJ studying criminal justice technology. On most school nights she would sit with Ta'Kiera at their dinner table and they would do their homework, side by side.

Thing weren't always perfect. Patricia worked her class schedule out each semester so she could be there when her daughter came home from school. It took her two tries to pass criminal law. She ended up with a 2.74 GPA. But she did what she set out to do: graduate.

In January, she got a job at the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation. She saved the $26.75 needed to buy the cap and gown she wore Saturday, when she was formally awarded two associate degrees: one in science, one in applied science.

When she walked onto the arena floor before the ceremony began, her family was in seats, watching. Her sister took pictures. Her mother held her hands together in front of her face. Her daughter waved wide and gave her a thumbs-up. Her grandmother has bad eyes and couldn't quite make her out.

This is Patricia Corbitt. I really would like to THANK EVERYONE that gave me the POSITIVE feedback on my story. I hope this story will ENCOURAGE and BLESS someone in life to go on NO MATTER WHAT has happened in your life or how old you are. There is ALWAYS Hope.

@Albinobucks: maybe you would have rather her got an abortion then? based on your politics probably not. So at 13, what should she do, have the baby and get a great paying job? I mean come on you have managed to take a decent story and try to insult the woman and her child and for what? Its not like the woman is sitting there having baby after baby and trying to milk the system. From what I see, she is trying to get off the system.

Where is the dad? For all we know this girl was raped at 13 and had the child. Are you telling me there should be no services for her? And lets be honest, if there is a welfare system, I would want those on it trying to move in the right direction to get off of it. It seems she is doing that.

Riding the city bus can save on costs, but with a daughter and other things on schedule, may not always be fitting. I hope Corbitt gets a vehicle and more comfort soon. Her strength, new degrees, and work ethic could be advertised for a good deal.